KING ARTHUR AND HIS KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE

King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table are a legend. Which means that it is not true. But it makes one heck of a story.

WHAT'S TRUE, WHAT ISN'T?
Nobody has a clue if King Arthur's tale is based on a real person or not. So, if you're smart you purchase a piece of antique furniture, invent a good story, and live off the money that tourists will carry into your town.

In this fashion acted the good people of Winchester.

KING ARTHUR'S ROUND TABLE PINNED ON THE WALL
IN THE GREAT HALL OF WINCHESTER CASTLE
 

WHEN DID KING ARTHUR LIVE?
Keeping in mind that this story is fiction, King Arthur lived sometime between 400 and 600 AD.

According to Nennius, a Welsh historian, a successful military leader really lived around this time, but he was just that and not a king.

HOW DOES THE STORY GO?
There are various versions, of course. But basically and in a nutshell:

There was King Arthur, who gathered his 24 knights around a round table to convey the idea of equality.

Everybody went searching for the very cup Christ had used at his last supper (aka the quest for the Holy Grail.)

One of Arthur's knights was Sir Lancelot. He was the poster child of chivalry and the father of Sir Galahad. He also shagged King Arthur's wife Queen Guinevere.

Arthur's sword was named Excalibur. By magic, the sword was stuck in a stone and nobody could get the darn thing out of the rock except Arthur. Either that, or in another version the sword was given to him by the Lady of the Lake, which is also cool.

The story ends on a sad note. The society of the Round Table gets dissolved, Arthur dies, his kingdom gets destroyed.

WHO CAME UP WITH THE STORY?
Nobody knows where exactly the story originated. Some say it all started in Wales, others say the tale started further north on the island.

But if you ask who all contributed to the story, that list would be probably endless. Let's just name a few:

Writer: Gildas, British monk and historian of the 6th century, his work: De excidio et conquestu Britanniae, which means The Overthrow and Conquest of Britain. He tells Arthur's story but doesn't mention him by name.

Work: Gododdin, written around the year 600

Writer: Nennius, Welsh writer of the 9th century, his work: Historia Brittonum. He is the one mentioned earlier. Nennius states that there was an Arthur, but he wasn't king.

Work: Annales Cambriae, 10th century

Work: Kulhwch and Olwen, Welsh story from the 12th century

Writer: Geoffrey of Monmouth, 12th century, Work: Historia regum Britanniae

Writer: Wace, poet of the 12th century, Work: Roman de Brut

Writer: Chrétien de Troyes, 12th century, Chretien wrote five books on Arthur: Erec, Cligès, Lancelot, ou Le Chevalier à la charrette, Yvain, ou Le Chevalier au lion, and Perceval, ou Le Conte du Graal.

Work: Lancelot, 13th century

Writer: Robert de Boron, Work: Merlin, 13th century

Writer: Sir Thomas Malory, Work: Le Morte Darthur, 15th century

Writer: Alfred Tennyson, Work: Idylls of the King, 19th century

And then there came the movies...

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Excalibur (1981)

Camelot (1982)

King Arthur (2004)

And talking about Winchester, here is the map

Winchester in the Middle Ages